Sunday 29 October 2017

Happy 3rd birthday Rana

Our beautiful girl is three today (aka Trick or Treat or Foxy).  Some worrying times over the past 3 years but she’s fine now and so loving, gentle and elegant.


Thursday 20 July 2017

Windsor and Hall Barn

The end of June saw us travelling to Windsor and Hall Barn working test. As we were staying for a few days and only two of us able to go, we decided to only take Lyric and Trio. Both to be shown at Windsor and Lyric to go to the LMC working test.

Windsor was a long day as we travelled down early that morning for the show, which meant a very early start for us all. The weather was good, not being too hot but pleasant for the dogs and us too. There was a lovely atmosphere around the LM ring, it was so nice to relax and not rush between two breed rings for a change!


Lyric won post graduate bitch and was considered for the reserve best bitch, but being a typical munster character she messed around so missed her chance. Anyway, it was one of those things and she's still rather young and immature. Trio had a 2nd in open bitch, and really enjoyed being back in the ring again.




We rushed over to the stakes ring after breed judging to compete in the brace class, something that seems like a good idea when the entries were completed. To our astonishment Trio and Lyric went really well together and impressed the judge enough to be awarded 3rd out of a huge class 13 entries.
Lyric was a very busy girl and also took her Kennel Club Good Citizens Bronze award, passing this well with all of the distractions of the show and unknown dogs completing the test alongside her.

After the show we took the opportunity to walk in to Windsor and have a walk around the castle, we even managed a walk on the 'long walk'.  The dogs loved having a run and it was then time to go to Hall Barn for a well deserved rest.

This WT was our last one of 3 that we did last year, this year it was our first and possibly the last.  Lyric is no longer a puppy and so had to make the transition to the novice category. Novice is judged in a similar way to the puppy test but the obedience section is omitted, so only hunting, water retrieve, and two other retrieves (in this case, a seen and then a blind).

I was so pleased with Lyric as we hadn't managed to put too much practice since the start of the year, all I wanted from her was to see an improvement from last years tests. Well she didn't disappoint at all.

The water test should have been her strong point, but she had to be sent back out for the retrieve as she came back to me at first. I do think that she is picking up nerves from her handler as water is not normally a problem for her.

We then moved on to the retrieves, starting with the seen. This was in a small wooded area, up a steep incline where the dummy was obscured from their view, they really had to mark it well.  Lyric set straight off for this and then within about two foot of the dummy came back to me, I then had to walk her out to it which she successfully retrieved.

The second retrieve was through the wooded area and in to a grass track, the dogs needed to ignore where they had just been sent for the 'seen retrieve' and go down the track and just around the bend to the dummy. To my utter amazement Lyric went straight out to the bend, something that I hadn't expected from her as we have done so little work on blind retrieves.  As with the other retrieve she got within a few feet and then came back to me and had to be sent out again.

After some thought I have come to the conclusion that this is coming down to confidence and the possibility that she has noticed the dummy thrower with has unnerved her as she has fully understood what was wanted from her.

The hunting was the biggest improvement and she scored over 3/4 of the total marks. The ground was so different to what we normally have at home and it was hard at times to see the dogs working in such long grass.

So all in all a fab weekend, lots of fun and things to work on for the future.


Wednesday 31 May 2017

Things returning to normal

Well due to all the ups and downs that the year has brought so far the blog has been rather neglected. Now that things are starting to return to normal, I thought that it was an appropriate time to give it a much needed update.
The Seahaven gang

It is so lovely to be back out with the dogs again after a prolonged enforced rest, the family have done such a good job of providing them with both mental and physical stimulation which has been much appreciated.  It has meant though that Lyric hasn't had the one to one training that I had hoped for her, we are hoping to catch up with some of the gun dog training and also hope to make it to a few gun dog working tests again this year.

The girls and dogs have managed to get to a few shows where I've spectated, and they have done a great job as always. Summer is now fast approaching and I'm really looking forward to getting out and about again.

We did manage to get to Bath show last weekend, and it was such a lovely opportunity to see the grandpups again (Rookie - Seahaven Commander at Hartenziel being the sire).  We managed to meet Nyx and Drake again, and also to meet their sister Pip too, along with Bea their mum. They are turning into such lovely young munsters, and Drake won Best Puppy in Breed from a good puppy entry. A very good day indeed.

Lyric at Bath


Lyric showed beautifully in Post Grad and was 2nd in a good class, she's still looking rather babyish, so I was delighted with this result.

We also took Eve along and she won Open Bitch in the NSDTRs and then went on to be awarded Reserve Best Bitch. I showed Eve, which is something that I haven't done in such a long time and she moved beautifully for me - full of drive. She wasn't too keen on standing still though, she really had ants in her pants!
Eve


Now to get out and do some training now with Lyric, we have lost time to catch up on!

Friday 17 March 2017

Crufts 2017

Crufts was a bit of a different affair this year with the girls having to do all of the preparation in the the build up to this fab day out.  Having four dogs fit and ready is no mean feat and they along with dad did them proud.  All four were fit and beautifully presented.

As always it gives the opportunity for the Seahaven's from further afield to meet up again.  Both breeds were well represented and in the awards.

Large Munsterlanders

Lyric (Seahaven Limited Edition) 3rd Junior
Yvie (Seahaven's Olympic Uthopia) 1st Limit
Trio (Seahaven Borrowed Heaven) VHC Open

Lyric collected her award for Top Puppy 2016 and loved meeting people on the trade stands.




NSDTRs

Bron (Seahaven's Gloriana) Res Limit
Milly (Seahaven Red Andromeda) 2nd GCDS

Tilly was unplaced in Veteran but cheered her children on with a big smile on her face, she also collected her Best Brood Bitch award. She was so pleased to be at a show again and really showed her socks off.


Eve was shortlisted in a huge open class, she looked lovely in the ring and worked so well for Eleanor. Sadly missing her coat it wasn't her day.

Tasha borrowed Eve for the YKC handling, a last minte change from handling Trio as the breed class was going to clash. Eve went really well for her in the busy YKC ring, not placed but thrilled with how she went.

Another Crufts over for another year, roll on summer!

Monday 6 March 2017

Top Dog 2016 Awards

We recently received notification from the dog press that two of our dogs had won awards, they have been invited to collect these at Crufts next week.  We are delighted to have had success in both breeds, and very proud of both dogs.

Tilly (Dinaskarreks Red Vixen at Seahaven)  has won the Dog World/Eden Top Dog award for top brood bitch. Our foundation NSDTR who has given us such pleasure taking part with the children in most canine sports. She has produced progeny who have gained their stud book number in each of her three litters, a huge achievement particularly when those dogs are only lightly shown.  She hasn't made many show appearances this past year as we have concentrated our attention on Eve and Lyric, but will be at Crufts in the veteran class.


Lyric (Seahaven Limited Edition) has won Our Dogs Top Puppy award which is sponsored by Natures menu.  This lovely girl is such a special puppy being the only surviving puppy in her litter, she was destined to stay no matter what. She surpassed all of our expectations from the word go, gaining best puppy in breed at her first champ show. She gained group placings at every open show she attended when there was a breed class scheduled, and a special highlight of her puppy career was being awarded Best Puppy in Show at the breed club champ show.


Lyric had also qualified for the prestigious Welsh Junior of the Year, held last weekend at Builth Wells, Tasha took over the handling of her for this and after a break from showing clearly remembered what it was all about.  She didn't get through to the final round but had a lovely day and came home with some lovely mementos.